Quick hits: GVSU men's basketball vs. Wayne State, soccer awards

It’s been a frustrating start to the season for the Grand Valley State men’s basketball team, especially when four of their five losses have come within 3 points, including their recent loss to GLIAC rival Wayne State on Thursday, Nov. 30, in Detroit.

The Lakers dropped their first conference game of the season to the Warriors by a final score of 76-73.

With two minutes remaining, the Lakers crawled back from a 9-point halftime deficit to tie the game. But the rest of the luck didn’t bounce GVSU’s way, as the Warriors were able to close out what they started. With the loss, the Lakers' record dropped to 3-4 overall (0-1 GLIAC), while Wayne State improved to 2-3 overall (1-0 GLIAC).

The Lakers struggled to get any consistency offensively, as the team shot only 39 percent from the field and 26 percent from behind the 3-point line. Ball movement was another main issue, as the Lakers were only able to gather eight assists to their 25 total field-goal makes.

Redshirt sophomore Hunter Hale led the Lakers in scoring with 22 points (7-18 FG) while also adding five rebounds. Senior point guard Myles Miller added 12 points and six rebounds, while freshman Jake Van Tubbergen added 9 points and three steals.

The Lakers will head to downtown Grand Rapids to compete in the Deltaplex Arena as a part of the “Downtown Thursday Night” promotion, along with the GVSU women’s basketball team. The first game of the series will be Thursday, Dec. 7, against Michigan Tech at 6 p.m.

Whether it was putting the ball in the back of the net or making sure the team functioned properly to put those opportunities in, senior forward Gabriella Mencotti and head coach Jeff Hosler were crucial to the Grand Valley State women’s soccer program making it to the Elite 8 this year.

Because of their efforts this year to lead a youthful Laker team to a dominating 20-4 overall record (9-0 GLIAC), HERO Sports—a college sports magazine—awarded Mencotti DII Women’s Soccer HERO of the Year, while Hosler earned the Coach of the Year award.

The awards were determined by fan votes on their website, in which Mencotti received 47 percent of the total votes and 149 votes over the second-place finisher. Hosler received 54 percent of the total votes, just 141 votes ahead of the runner-up.

It was another breakout season for Mencotti, who led the nation in goals for the second year in a row (30), while also earning 70 points to help propel the Lakers to their ninth straight Elite 8 appearance. Although this season was her last, Mencotti’s legacy is unlike any other player's in the program’s history, as she has played and started more matches than anyone else in school history.

In his fourth year as the Lakers’ head coach, Hosler had the challenge of taking in nine freshmen to replace arguably the greatest senior class in program history before the season even began. Hosler rose to the challenge, allowing the freshmen to compete, but also in learning situations late in the season. Hosler was also named GLIAC Coach of the Season.